December 30, 2013

Bailey sees no negatives to re-signing with Cowboys, but 'we'll just kind of see what happens'

Dan Bailey said he can’t see any negatives to re-signing with the Cowboys, but that from here, he just has to see what happens.

“This is a great place to kick. It’s obviously a first-class organization,” he said Monday after cleaning out his locker at Valley Ranch. “I can’t really see any negatives to playing here.”

Bailey, an undrafted free agent three years ago out of Oklahoma State, became a restricted free agent at season’s end. He is the most accurate kicker in team history, with a field goal percentage of 90.8 (89-for-98) in three seasons. He also holds the team record with eight game-winning kicks.

“Yeah, I’d love to stay here if I could,” he said. “We’ll just kind of see what happens. Hopefully we’ll be able to stick around a little longer.”

Bailey made it a point to improve his leg strength. He ranked 10th in touchback percentage, 55.9 (52 of 93), and made six of seven kicks from 50 yards or more.

“That was a big focus for me going into this season,” he said. “I felt like overall, I’m still going to have to take a few days to assess how the whole year went, but I think the initial assessment was that a lot of the stuff we did in the offseason really benefited, whether it was touchbacks or kickoffs or having a little more confidence and stuff on longer field goals, it definitely paid off.”

Bailey said he tries not to think about much beyond the field.

“My goal is just to play the best I can every year, hopefully string a bunch of good years together,” he said. “I think anything that happens beyond that is just part of working in the NFL. So my focus is just to be the best teammate and player I can be, try to perform to my best ability every day in practice and in games. So whatever happens beyond that is out of my control. All I can control is what I can do.”